He served in the Canadian Army from 1916-1918 (at the age of 14 - 16 years old), a short stint in the U.S. Marines from 1919-1921 - and a rather long bit in the California National Guard, from approximately 1923-1938 and then in the USO (frequently under fire) in the Pacific and finally Europe during WWII.

Alstrand did school shows in 1960s and in 1979 he was the surprise performer at the annual IBM Ring No. 38 (San Fransisco) Installation Banquet.[4]